You dig into the expenses. Rent is flat. Salaries are steady. But somewhere, a line item labeled “miscellaneous operating costs” has doubled.

A cost driver is not an accounting buzzword. It is a .

: These count how many times an activity is performed (e.g., the number of purchase orders processed or the number of machine setups).

At its simplest level, a is the direct cause of a cost. It is the specific activity or event that triggers the incurrence of a cost.

Imagine you run a SaaS company. Your biggest expense is your customer support team.

: These are used when resources are charged directly based on the complexity or "effort" of an activity each time it is performed. Common Examples Across Industries What are cost drivers? (Types, analysis and significance)